


Knights Of Harmony

by Hessanite



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: AU, Alicorn Mane Six, Daybreaker AU, How Do One Plot, No Romance, No Smut, Plots, god damn i want a story without a ship damnit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 08:49:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11620107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hessanite/pseuds/Hessanite
Summary: The power of Harmony is great, tempering Chaos and strengthening Virtue.The Bearers of Harmony, however, are still learning.





	1. Preface-Type Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Just trust me okay.  
> (this first chapter, btw, is basically a somewhat indepth look into the nightmare moon conflict if daybreaker had happened instead)

Princess Luna never fell from Harmony a thousand years ago.

Princess Celestia did. She became Daybreaker, a cruel and controlling entity with power over the sun, loved by ponies. Until she took their freedom.

Daybreaker had sought battle, so Luna forged a weapon from the Elements of Harmony, sealing her sister's magic and corruption to her own moon, preventing the spread of chaos but leaving Celestia powerless. Peace became a brittle thing, repairing the damage of Daybreaker's madness.

Centuries passed. Luna's seal would not hold forever, and she knew it, able to feel the cracks in the web of power containing Daybreaker's darkness. The moon grew darker, tendrils of scorched stone carving a likeness of a flaming face into the surface. Marks spread similarly over Luna's own body, black marks like flames under her dark coat, the connection harming even as it protected.

Together, Luna and Celestia crafted a plan. The Elements were inert to their touch, the bonds they once held too abused by Daybreaker's corruption to work with. But they could still sense the potential ponies had for each aspect.

So they crafted, for centuries more, forging a society to nurture such traits, subtly encouraging ponies of like traits to strengthen their power through association and lineage.

Laughter was almost easy, though refining it to be for friendship rather than harming others was a difficult task.

Kindness was finicky. One generation might be nearly all caring and kind, while the next held to cruel hearts.

Honesty...With the truth so subjective in most cases, neither princess was sure of succeeding here.

Generosity need only be fostered, given tools. They promoted art and culture, to ease creativite thinking.

Loyalty, they forged by promoting the understanding of morals. Make sure every pony had someone to rely on, to trust.

Magic, or Friendship, sprung up on its own. They could ease situations, promote a dissolvement of factions, but it wasn't something one could force.

So they managed. They didn't try to arrange friendships. Such things were noticed by the Elements, and quickly fell apart.

Then a baby dragon was force-grown through the roof of Celestia's School for Gifted Ponies, right after a sonic rainboom- the first either princess had witnessed- shook Equestria.

Celestia had regained some of her strength over the centuries, shreds of her power slipping from Luna's seal. She had the strength of a powerful unicorn, a windblown pegasus, moved with an earth pony's sturdiness and health. She couldn't move the sun, but she had power enough to calm the chaos bubbling in a little filly's magic.

Twilight Sparkle was a prodigy. Celestia became her teacher.

The filly became a young mare, and if something in the flow of her magic felt familiar to the two alicorns, they held their counsel. Such things bore fruit on their own time.

Then Cadance broke free from her seal within the Crystal Empire, nearly died getting to Canterlot. Months of recovery ensued. She eventually settled into the role of a babysitter, a princess in title only with her kingdom vanished, possibly forever. The lines of magic were too tangled to draw a conclusion.

Years. The three alicorns could feel things building. Luna and Celestia required Cadance's leadership more often, the princess of love becoming a prominent member of politics. Luna's stamina suffered as she had to put more into the seal. Celestia began feeling the same influences which corrupted her, sending her into cold hysteria for sometimes an hour at a time.

Luna began bonding with Twilight, teaching her things beyond Celestia's knowledge. How to summon shields of shadow, to sense the lines of magic in the earth, to taste the wild energy of the weather uncontrolled by pegasi. The lavender filly- considered a mare at sixteen, but still a child in the face of Luna's age- flourished under the instruction.

Then came the winter solstice Luna was too weak to leave her chambers, and Celestia, hidden away the moment it was revealed, couldn't stop laughing as her magic bled through the seal at a time it has always been strongest. Cadance's experience was the only thing not inspiring panic, stating that the sisters merely wished for a vacation, and were to be back soon.

Her lies appeared as truth when Luna returned, glamours tied to her regalia making her seem strong and relaxed, despite how their weight left her muscles aching anew. Celestia's regalia had spells designed to project illusions when bursts of dark energy overtook her, making her seem quietly amused when dealing with rude nobles and simpering rich folk, rather than cackling and outraged. Cadance's own jewelry was enchanted to notify her when either sister needed assistance, to extract Celestia from whatever task she could not leave, to find Luna and offer her own magic as a buffer against exhaustion.

Twilight remained unaware, blissful and comfortable in her studies. Alone, Celestia noted in her shortening times of lucid clairty. 

Celestia pulled away completely from Luna and Cadance's plans, wary of knowing too much.

"The day I can raise the sun again is the day we will need the Elements. And I cannot be entrusted to know your plans when I will be playing the villain."

She set a geas, to prevent her corruption from making plans against her sisters- Cadance might not be related by blood, but all alicorns were family- and to block her own knowledge of the Elements as much she could.

Months now, and time seemed so short where it had once stretched nigh infinite.

The summer solstice. Twilight was sent to this year's town, a place called Ponyville, the day before, when Celestia admitted she could feel Daybreaker more closely than ever. Luna had been too weak to rise again, even her borrowed strength not keeping her up. Cadance was panicked, trying to organize everything with only her plans with Luna.

The scorches on the moon, that had been there for nearly a thousand years, vanished.

Eyes like purple fire opened, slit-pupiled like a dragon's.


	2. Breach The Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello, this wasn't a oneshot! Just me getting my story together.   
> I hope you enjoy!

It was two days before the Summer Sun Celebration, and Twilight had been sent to some town near Canterlot to 'oversee preperations'.

In another universe, Twilight had only focused on the riddle posed by a book in her library tower.

Here, she itched with worry over Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.

She wasn't an idiot; Far from it she was a genius as well as a prodigy of the arcane.

She had noticed how, more often, exhaustion clung to Luna like a cloak, and their shared meals more often saw her picking at meals, as though too worn to eat. She could feel, even if she wasn't quite strong enough to see past, the glamours bound to Luna's royal regalia, crafted from a blue-silver metal that made the navy of her coat seem richer. Even the magic in her mane, which made it wave as though by an unfelt breeze, seemed sparser, moving sluggishly.

Celestia had practically vanished from the public eye, and Twilight hadn't seen her official mentor in days. From a distance, the closest Twilight had managed to hunt her down, the white alicorn seemed on edge and nervous, though any pony that managed to approach her was greeted with a perfectly gentle smile. She saw, very faintly, the tremble in wavy pink locks, the surest sign of glamours wrapped around a pony, how it didn't quite follow the flow of the rest of the body.

And now she was being sent to Ponyville, to keep check of the preperations, to ensure everything was perfect.

As well as make some friends, as her assistant Spike refused to let her forget.

She'd have to make up about Moondancer's party to him. The little dragon was a touch bitter over not being able to go tomorrow, only fiddling with his small notepad and 'pen', a neat little get-around to the quill shortage so prominent in Twilight's presence.

Especially since she had sort of ruined his gift, being so absorbed in her research.

She winced as they landed with some dust and a slight bump, but quickly recovered her upset balance and left the carriage. A quick thank you to the guards, and she headed off.

"Well, the princess arranged for us to stay in a library, Twilight." Spike scampered behind her, shorter legs working quickly. "That should make you happy," He followed with under his breath.

Twilight grimaced, then gently lifted him to sit on her back. "I'm sorry we don't have the time to go to Moondancer's party, but I've been trying to figure out this old prophecy I found in Prophecies and Predictions. About Daybreaker!"

Spike was not appeased. "Prophecies! Everybody knows Daybreaker is sealed in the moon forever."

Twilight resisted the urge to speed into a jouncing trot. "Magic isn't finite. What I'm trying to figure out is why the prophecy seems to scare Princess Luna and Celestia."

"Scared? They're two immortal alicorns. Luna can raised the sun and moon, and Celestia's her sister. What have they got to be scared of?"

"Legend says Daybreaker stole Celestia's magic, and Luna sealed her away with... something called the Elements of Harmony. I need to know what those are to solve this."

Spike hummed. "Ever considered asking the sisters?"

Twilight halted, raising an eyebrow at the baby dragon. "Now why wouldn't I have tried asking the two oldest and most secretive mares in Equestria about a subject which makes them obviously uncomfortable?"

Spike groaned, faceplanting into the back of her head. "Right, right, I get it." He huffed and sat back up. "For now, let's not worry about some dusty old prophecy and look over the Summer Sun Celebration preparations."

His eyes crossed, and Twilight giggled. "Try saying that ten times fast."

She scanned the list of items she needed to look over as Spike tried fumbling through the phrase various times.

"First up is a... Miss Applejack, at Sweet Apple Acres. She's handling food for the Celebration." Twilight hummed softly.

She cast a brief scrying spell- nothing more than to map out the town, not even focusing on any ponies-before setting off towards the road that would lead her to the large apple orchard flanking Ponyville.

Just a quick in-an-out. If she was quick, she might get back to the library and see what sort of references it might have before final reviews got triple-checked tomorrow.

She promptly smacked straight into a pony, and both of them went down in the dust with a yelp.

"Ow.." Twilight rubbed her bruised mizzle from where it had hit the ground. "I'm sorry, ma'am, are you alright? I wasn't watching where I was going."

The pony she had run into was pink, with a pink mane that was poofier than a raincloud, and with alarmingly wide blue eyes. Her cutie mark was three balloons, and she was shaking like a jackhammer, legs pointed straight up as if she were a figurine placed upside down by a foal.

Twilight stood up, carefully walking closer. "Ma'am? Are you hurt?"

The earth pony flipped over and captured Twilight's left foreleg in a vice-like shake, an alarmingly wide smile on her round face. "Hiya, I'm Pinkie Pie! You're new in town, aren'cha!" It wasn't a question.

Twilight nodded, and the mare bolted without a word of explanation.

Unicorn and dragon stared at the pink smoke trail left by her exit, baffled.

Spike suddenly barked a laugh. "She must be fun at parties."


End file.
